10 Years Later: Back on the Field With the MLK High School Football Team

Originally published on DICK'S Sporting Goods Sideline Report

They were fierce Philadelphia-area rivals on and off the football field for over 40 years. Then ahead of the 2013-2014 school year, Germantown and Martin Luther King High Schools were forced to merge as the result of a budget crisis plaguing the Philadelphia School District.

The budget crisis left dozens of schools closed, including Germantown, the fate of sports programs in the entire district uncertain and 4,000 staff members laid off. Ed Dunn, a math teacher and assistant football coach at Germantown, was one of those staff members.

As told in “We Could Be King”, a 2014 documentary by DICK’S Sporting Goods and Tribeca Films, Dunn volunteered to be head coach of the MLK Cougars. He inspired the players to come together and lift each other up in football and in life. What began as a rocky start to the season ended with the team defying the odds and winning the Philadelphia Public League Class AAA Championship.

Following the documentary’s release, The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation presented the Philadelphia School District with a $250,000 Sports Matter Grant to keep sports programs in the district funded.

10 years later, The DICK’S Foundation returned to MLK High School to catch up with Dunn, who went on to coach the MLK Cougars from 2013-2018, and current head coach Malik Jones. Both still use the power of sport to change lives.

“Football is the only way they can get off of the streets,” Jones said. “We need to keep this program alive so that these kids have a fighting chance.”

The players aren’t just coached in football. They learn valuable life lessons too.

“We maintain not only physical health, but mental health,” Dunn said. “We’re teaching them how to decompress and how to unpack their emotions.”

Ahead of the 2024 season, The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation had two surprises for the MLK Cougars.

One Dunn and Jones knew about – a locker room full of new gear for the players from Nike and Hyperice.

The second was a surprise for all – a $100,000 Sports Matter Grant commitment to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Sports Matter Program – bringing both Dunn and Jones to tears.

“Here’s to another 10 years,” Dunn said.

To learn more about The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation, visit www.sportsmatter.org.

You can stream “We Could Be King” on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Peacock, PLEX, Pluto TV and Tubi.

Written by Hilary Totin